Bustin Out features superb animation that is clean and fluid. All of the characters move and behave realistically, providing a game that is easy on the eyes. Most of the environments look pretty nice as well and feature plenty of intricate details. It truly is surprising to see animation this fluid on a handheld. The vibrant colors are really help matters as well.
I’m a huge audiophile but one area that has never been to grasp my attention is portable gaming. Most of the audio in GBA games is awfully and the N-Gage falls into that realm as well. So imagine my surprise when I found myself absolutely falling in love with the music in Bustin’ Out. Maxis managed to port over many of its signature tracks from the PC version with excellent results. I especially love the lawn mowing music; the encoding is just superb,
If you’re looking for differences between the GBA and N-Gage version there aren’t many. The N-Gage version features a cellular phone which allows you to call other Sims and play emulated games. I’ll admit that the ability to call Sims whenever you want is pretty nice. In the GBA version you had to find a landline (either a payphone or a house phone) in order to get in touch with others. Here you can simply press a button and have the rest of the town at your fingertips. As for the additional games; they’re the generic games that came bundled on the last-generation digital phones. Think of Snake and you have a pretty good idea of what to find here.
Nokia’s handheld has been lacking what it needs the most; true portable games that can be played on the go. Console ports are nice, but those titles were designed for the comfort of a living room, not the hustle and bustle of a busy subway. This is what
Bustin' Out provides you with, an excellent game that is deep, but not too complicated as to tie you up when you’re playing on-the-go. If you own an N-Gage this is one of the premiere titles to own. It’s not perfect but it’ll definitely keep you interested for 20 or so hours.
B- | If Bustin' Out is any measure of what we can expect from future N-Gage titles, we might be in for a treat. It's not a perfect title, but it's just what the system needed; an on-the-go game that's fun to pick up and play. |
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